Japanese chemical processing specialist Marubeni Corporation has returned battery-grade specifications of more than 99.95% purity from tests on samples sourced from International Graphite’s (ASX: IG6) Springdale project in Western Australia.
The bench-scale program involved purifying graphite concentrates from drilling and bulk concentrate extraction conducted at the project in 2023.
Various wash cycle tests returned purities of up to 99.97% total graphitic carbon (TGC) – a grade generally used for lithium-ion battery anode specifications – with further purification test work planned using spheroidised graphite concentrates from Springdale.
International Graphite has been collaborating with Marubeni on the supply of spheroidised graphite from Springdale, along with potential financial support for the project’s global mine-to-market graphite supply strategy.
Marubeni is looking to expand its access to critical minerals and explore avenues to secure graphite products in support of Japan’s growing battery and motor vehicle manufacturing industries.
The leading commodity trader has had business interests in Australia for decades.
International Graphite chief executive officer Andrew Worland said the Marubeni partnership has given the company added confidence in its assets and development strategy.
“Japanese firms have made enormous commitments to developing battery gigafactory capacity worldwide and they need new sources of graphite to honour these commitments,” he said.
“We can offer the market a supply of quality material with all the benefits of Australian security and reliability [and] we believe Marubeni can help tailor our future operations to best meet market demands.”
Representatives from Marubeni’s metals and mineral resources division recently toured International Graphite’s mining leases at Springdale and its graphite research and development facility at Collie.
The site visit was part of ongoing discussions relating to the Springdale-Collie mine-to-market strategy, which will see graphite mined at the world-class Mason Bay and Springdale Central deposits before being processed at Collie.
Springdale is rated the second-largest graphite deposit in Australia and one of the world’s top 15 graphite developments, with an estimated 49.3 million tonnes at 6.5% TGC.
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